To make a 10oz mug of coffee, you’ll need 20g of coffee and between 300-340g of water, depending how strong you like your brew. If you’re pouring with a swan-neck kettle very slowly, the coffee will take between 2:30-3:30 minutes total to brew. If you’re pouring more quickly with a tea-style kettle it will take longer, maybe 4-5 minutes.

For a 16oz coffee, you’ll want to use 30g of coffee and 450g of water. Contrary to instructions below, DO NOT fold the bottom filter seam when brewing this much coffee. When the filter is folded it sits below the rim of the dripper and you run the risk of overflow or floating grounds in your delicious coffee. If you pour with a swan-neck kettle very slowly, the coffee will take between 3:30-4:30 minutes total to brew. If you pour more quickly with a tea-style kettle it will take longer, maybe 5-6 minutes.

Grind Size

Start with a grind size a tiny bit coarser than regular table salt and coarsen the grind size if you increase the amount of coffee you will be brewing. This is where timing your brew really helps because it will help you know if your grind size is accurate! If your coffee brews too fast, fining up the grind size is the answer. If your coffee brews painfully slow, a slight coarsening of the grind will fix that right up. Make small adjustments to start, and test the results.

Coffee that brews too fast will result in a thin/watery body and light, underwhelming, slightly sour flavors. Coffee that brews too slowly will have a heavier body, but probably some extra bitterness, especially in the aftertaste.

Once you get close to the correct timing, your coffee will be pretty tasty!

** Use a burr grinder! Consistent grind size is one of the most important components to an even extraction and is most easily achieved with a burr grinder. A spice mill style blade grinder will not only give you a variety of particle sizes leading to uneven extraction, it will also be impossible to replicate the grind from brew to brew. Check out the Porlex Mini Mill for an affordable option that's great for travel (and an arm workout!)

Ok, I’ve got all this stuff, now what?

1) Boil the filtered water in your kettle. The ideal water temperature for coffee brewing is between 195-205F, but since we will be rinsing the filter first there will be just the right amount of time for it to cool down to the proper temperature.

2) While you’re waiting for the water to boil, weigh out your coffee and grind it in your burr grinder.

3) Get your filter ready. Fold the filter along the ridged edges (this will make it fit more snugly) and place in your brewer. *Remember! If brewing a 16oz size DO NOT fold the bottom crease! You’ll be maxing out the brewer’s capacity and risking overflow.

4) Use the boiling water to rinse your paper filter; this will remove any papery taste as well as heat up your brewer. Drain the water out of the bottom of the brewer by either holding it over the sink, or by draining it into your coffee mug. (Remember to dump this water out of your mug!)

5) Place your brewer on the scale, add the ground coffee and tare your scale to zero. Shake the brewer a little to get a nice flat bed of coffee. Get your timer ready.

6) Start your timer. Pour the water onto the coffee nice and slow in the center until there are no more dry grounds or clumps, and you have reached 300-340g of water. If you’re using a swan-neck kettle, this pour should take you about 30 seconds for a 10oz and 1 minute for a 16oz. If you’re using a tea-style kettle, pour as slow as you can until you reach the desired water ratio (trying to mimic the time you would use with the swan neck kettle.) The faster the water is poured, the longer the coffee will take to drain. Let your coffee hang out until your timer says 1:30.

7) At 1:30, carefully lift the brewer and place on top of your mug. If using a Clever Coffee Dripper, it will begin to drain automatically. (This is why knowing your mug size is important—you don’t want a surprise overflow!). If using a Bonavita, you will need to physically flip the lever at the bottom from OFF to ON which will allow the brewer to drain. The coffee will brew another 1-3 minutes as it drains, landing at the ideal total brew time.

If your coffee drains too fast or too slow, a slight grind adjustment will fix the problem. These brewers have a fairly wide range of acceptable brew time and grind size, and that’s what we love about them! Do a little experimenting and you’ll discover your favorite way of brewing delicious coffee in these magical devices.